I was thinking about this post today and wrote a response as a result: https://alenaroo.substack.com/p/are-you-better-than-the-screen-watchers - we do value reading more because it's more effort and it's a different kind of attention (both of which you already mention) but it also opens us to interiority of characters much more so than movies / TV and it forces us to spend more time in the world of the book. I would also argue that it's somewhat easier to develop more sophisticated tastes in reading than in movies.
I think there are several questions here that get mixed often in claims over any high-brow vs low-brow endeavors.
1. Do what we consider high-brow really is of higher quality? If so by what metric?
2. How should we treat those who engage in low quality endeavors?
3. Is there moral virtue in engaging high-quality endeavors?
The first is obviously not a moral question. The second obviously is. The third is a meta-ethical one.
My take is that books are higher quality than movies (in general, but subject to the specific movie and book), but since its a matter of taste we should not admonish those with a different view on this matter. I don't see moral virtue in high quality endeavors, they are things I should do for non-moral reasons, same as a healthy diet or attending conferences.
I think the more interesting question is who really thinks there is a moral element to book reading and why. I suspect not many people really hold a moral stance on this when closely inspected.
P.S. My wife is at APS as well, I'll tell her to say hi, I'm sure she would be much more critical of this post than me though...
I have a feeling you won't like these comments having work for a university but please keep an open mind:We have a chronic systemic problem with our University system. They have to teach the dogma of the day because they are political. Whatever the physics community says are the important issues is what they will teach. Try reading my article where I'm trying to get an email out to Barbara Corcoran.
Very nice! For my own part, attention practice feels like the best reason to want kids to read today.
I discuss the idea that fiction makes you more empathetic here (from a similarly critical perspective): https://grecowansley.substack.com/p/fiction-and-empathy-a-tempting-story?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=7y2zu
I was thinking about this post today and wrote a response as a result: https://alenaroo.substack.com/p/are-you-better-than-the-screen-watchers - we do value reading more because it's more effort and it's a different kind of attention (both of which you already mention) but it also opens us to interiority of characters much more so than movies / TV and it forces us to spend more time in the world of the book. I would also argue that it's somewhat easier to develop more sophisticated tastes in reading than in movies.
I think there are several questions here that get mixed often in claims over any high-brow vs low-brow endeavors.
1. Do what we consider high-brow really is of higher quality? If so by what metric?
2. How should we treat those who engage in low quality endeavors?
3. Is there moral virtue in engaging high-quality endeavors?
The first is obviously not a moral question. The second obviously is. The third is a meta-ethical one.
My take is that books are higher quality than movies (in general, but subject to the specific movie and book), but since its a matter of taste we should not admonish those with a different view on this matter. I don't see moral virtue in high quality endeavors, they are things I should do for non-moral reasons, same as a healthy diet or attending conferences.
I think the more interesting question is who really thinks there is a moral element to book reading and why. I suspect not many people really hold a moral stance on this when closely inspected.
P.S. My wife is at APS as well, I'll tell her to say hi, I'm sure she would be much more critical of this post than me though...
Actually, the first question is a moral question since it is a question of objective value.
I have a feeling you won't like these comments having work for a university but please keep an open mind:We have a chronic systemic problem with our University system. They have to teach the dogma of the day because they are political. Whatever the physics community says are the important issues is what they will teach. Try reading my article where I'm trying to get an email out to Barbara Corcoran.